Starting device for gas-engines.



01F. JENKINS.

STARTING DEVICE FOR GAS ENGINES.

APPLICATION rum) JULY 25,1910.

1,003,750. Patented Sept. 19, 1911 main object UNITED STATES PATENTVOFFIGE.

CHARLES FRANCIS JENKINS, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA,

STARTING DEVICE FOR GAS-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Application filed July 25, 1910. Serial No. 573,821.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES FRANCIS JENKINS, siding atWashington, in theDistrict of Columbia, have invented certain new and use- ;thlImprovements in. Startin Devices for Gas-Engines, of which the ibllowingis specification;

This invention relates to that class of devices known as gas-englnestarters, and its is the production of a simple mechanism of reliableefficiency especially adapted to pleasure vehicles.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front view of the device aslocated on the rear cylinder of a gasolene engine as they r are usuallysituated in an automobile; Fig. 2 is a side view of the cylinder andattac ed devices; 3 a view showin the location "of small cocks,

one on each cylinder, for admittin'g the starting mixture to the several6 a small cylinder, the lower end of which is m communication-withonebranch of the T, the cylinder having a piston working therein, thestem of which is attached to the lever of the lever-cock- 3;.7 is across one side of which communicates with the lower end of the cylinder6, another side with the gage 8, another side with a safety-valve 9, andthe fourth side with a reservoir 10; 11 is a spring on the lever-cocktoturn it to open position under proper conditions; 12

a spring located on the same cock ,lever to 45 insure quick opening andclosing; 13 is a small lever-cock on each cylinder, the levers of allof'which are actuated by the rod .14 the inner end of which is locatedwithin easy reach of the driver; each of these small cocks is connectedby the pipe 15 to the pipe 16 which latter is in communication with thereservoir 10.

17 is the usual spark-plug in the top of the cylinder employed toexplode the charge: fromthis lug a wire 18 leads to the insulated meta bsale 19 on the disk a citizen of the United States, re-

course,

20 located on the stem .oflthe'lever-cock 3. This metal blade .is soformed and located that when the lever-cockfi is in the open or.

dotted position the blade sh'ort4circu1ts the plug 17 by grounding thewire 18 on a metal part of the motor, The wire 21 communicates withthespark-producing mechanism of the regular motor equipment...,

The operation of the device isas follows:

Assuming the tank 10 containjsayfull charge of explosive gas :un'derpressure,i.the small lever-cocks 13 are openedvb'y "pushing men.

the rod 14 as shown in F1g.- 3'. This1al1ows gas under pressure to flowintoeach cylins der. Two of them will be filled with it, and in two ofthem, as most motors are made, the

gas is wasted, though in this invention the simplicity of thearrangement is, considered a to more than ofi'se't the small wasteinvolved. Releasing the rod 14 the spring12 returns the valves 13 to theclosed position, leaving one or more of the cylinders charged with a"combustible gas,

all automobiles are now fitted. This, of starts the rotation of theengine, which automatically explodes the charge in the second cylinder,although it has been found that the single impu se of the firstexplosion is ample for causing the motorjto take up its regular cycle.

' When the supply of gas in the reservo1r has dropped to a predeterminedamount the spring 11 overcomes the upward thrust of the piston plus thetension of the springf12 and the lever-cock 3 is opened, and thespark-plug isv short-circ'uited. The charge drawn into the cylinder,by-the rotation of the motor, instead of'being exploded asit reaches thetop, open cock 3 and ultimately into the reservoir 10. This cycle isrepeated at every stroke of the piston until-the pressure in thereservoir has reached a certain redetermined point when the pressure 0the gas under the iston in the small cylinder 6 pushes the ever up andcloses the cock 3. This also, of course, opens the short circuit of-wire18 and the cylinder immediately takes up its power cycle with the otherthree cylinders.

This change from "power to pump function, and back again, is, obviously,auto-- matic, and in actual practice appears to be imperceptible under te ordinary conditions of automobile use. The apparatus is small which isexploded by touch- 3 ing a button, with which latter practically 'sforced out through the rangements of the parts the motor begins to turnunder the impulse of the gas alone and that it then explodes the chargeautomatically.

hat I claim, therefore, is-

1. In an internal combustion engine, the combination with a series ofexplosion cylinders and igniting devices for the same, of anon-explosion cylinder and a plunger therein, means for temporarilyrendering the ignition device for one of the explosion cylindersinoperative, thereby converting the cylinder and its piston into a forcepump, a conduit leading from the last named cylinder to thenon-explosion cylinder to actuate its plungenand means whereby saidplunger when thus actuated may restore the inoperative ignition deviceto operating condition.

2. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a plurality ofpower cylinders, one of which, temporarily, acts only as a pump drawingan explosive gas from the carbureter ders and compressing it into areservoir through a valve arranged toautomatically close when thepressure in the reservoir combination of a reaches a predeterminedpoint.

3.'In an internal combustion engine, the

plurality of power cylinders, one of which, temporarily, acts only as apump drawing an explosive gas from the carbureter common to all of thecylinders and compressing it into a reservoir through .a valve arrangedto automatically close only when the pressure in the reservoir reaches-acommon'to all of the cylin valve.

predetermined point, and manually controlled means for distributing thismixture to the several cylinders.

4. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of a plurality ofpower cylinders, one of which, temporarily, acts only as a pump drawingan explosive gas from the carbureter common to all the cylinders andcompressing it into a reservoir through a valve [arranged toautomatically close when the pressure in the reservoir reaches apredetermined point and to automatically open whenzthe pressure falls toa certain other point. t

5. In an internal combustion engine, the combination of aplurality ofpower cylinders; one of which, temporarily, acts only as a pump drawingan explosive mixture from the carb'ureter common to all the cylinders 6and compressing it into a reservoir through a valve arranged toautomatically open and v close, and means for short-circuiting thespark-plug on the pumping cylinder.

6. In an internalcombustion engine, the 6 combination of" a plurality ofpower cylinders, one of which, temporarily, acts only as a pump drawing:an explosive mixture from the carbureter common to all the cylinders andcompressing it into a reservoir through a valve arranged toautomatically open and close, and means for short-circuiting thespark-plug on the pumping cylinder simultaneously with the opening, ofthe 7t In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature in presence oftwo witnesses.

CHARLES FRANCIS JENKINS. \Vitnesses J. R. VHITE, R. SCHNEIDER.

.Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, byaddressing the f Commissioner of Patents Washington, I). C.

